Summer Camp

Today is my birthday. It is a fine day, already showing promise of being a reasonable day in the mid-70s (yesterday was 100Â°). I hope to spend it in a creative and relaxing way. Hard to beat what I have been doing, I have to say.

Last week my mother and my sister Linden were here, and we all went on our annual pilgrimage to the YMCA at Estes Park. Our kids go to camp while we make things. Here is our cabin.

Mummy View Cabin

Here is our breakfast.

We made dolls. We made fantastic, fabulous dolls with their own stories. It is amazing how as you work on shaping them and dressing them, they tell you all about themselves. I learned something else doing this, I actually do make cute things. Cute was not a word I previously would have used for my art, but this time it was cute. Meet Wendell and Gwendolyn.

While I was making cute bunnies, my sister and my mother made some pretty edgy characters. Made me wonder a bit about their inner workings. Mom made Ada Mae and Pearly June. They are sisters who live far from the city, and have a story involving a traveling salesman. We don’t know all of it yet.

Pearlie June

Ada Mae

My sister made gnome-people, who grew more and more exotic as she worked.

Linden's exotic lady

Linden's floppy-eared man

We made great food, read books, wove baskets and painted silk. It was quite a vacation. I will be posting more of what we did later. Off to the birthday day!

If you want to make dolls like this, take a class like I did from Michelle Allen.

One Comment

jackieJune 26, 2012

Just to say hello and a belated Happy Birthday, which we share by the way.
Your drawings of Prairie Houses are very interesting, as is your section in the book.
Jackie